• Adobe After Effects

  Better/easier way to do this?

  Posted by Tristan Rodden on March 25, 2016 at 2:08 pm

  I’m creating an animated logo in AE CC 14, and I’m wondering if there’s a better way to accomplish what I want.
  I’m wanting to create a music staff that flows and merges together to form a circle surrounding a logo. Fairly simple effect that I know I must have seen somewhere before, but wanted to create on my own. Here it is in rough form:

  

  Right now I’m having to duplicate a circle 5 times, manually create breaks in those circles for each individual staff line, then extend those lines to create the staff. I then add the Trim Paths modifier to each and eyeball the keyframes on each to make their motions sync up.

  I’ve included my project file here:
  9915_animatedlogopublic.aep.zip

  If there’s a better way to achieve this, preferably with no 3rd-party plugins, I’d appreciate any feedback. Thanks!

  Kalleheikki Kannisto replied 10 years, 6 months ago 3 Members · 2 Replies
• 2 Replies

• 

  Kevin Camp

  March 25, 2016 at 4:16 pm

  there’s not many effects that would help you out here…

  the grid effect is great at producing regularly spaced lines, but it would make those lines into a circle.

  adding a repeater to a shape layer can also evenly space out instances of the shape, but the instances are exactly the same, so i don’t think that would get you far…

  the only thing i’d approach differently is to create the paths in illustrator, then import that .ai file and covert it to a shape layer. from there i’d use trim paths and offset the keyframes to create something similar.

  illustrator is designed to create and edit vectors, so it has more tools to create, cut, join and manipulate paths. but, as with any software, there is a learning curve.

  Kevin Camp
  Art Director
  KCPQ, KZJO & KRCW
• 

  Kalleheikki Kannisto

  March 26, 2016 at 8:50 am

  In my view that needs one or two circles and five lines on shape layers with the animation done fully with trim paths.

  With the circle I see two options:

  1) One circle: If you put the anchor point of the circle in the center of the circle, you can rotate the circle in the end to move the start point.

  2) Two circles: You can use two circles with different trim path settings to create the full circle with moving start point.

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